ASEAN-AUSTRALIA COUNTER TRAFFICKING
Terms of Reference
M&E systems development consultancy
About the organisation
Cardno is a global consulting organisation that manages projects for major donors, delivering aid work in various disciplines such as education, health, governance, resource and environment management and infrastructure. Our work expands across Europe, Latin and North America, Asia, the Pacific and Africa. With over 6,000 staff worldwide, our vision is to be a world leader in the provision of professional services to improve the physical and social environment.
About the program:
The ASEAN–Australia Counter Trafficking program (ASEAN-ACT) continues Australia’s long running collaboration with ASEAN and its member states to end human trafficking in our region. The program works primarily on strengthening the justice sector response to human trafficking, while developing new partnerships with allied government agencies, civil society and business. It engages all 10 ASEAN Member States in some capacity and has national-level programming in Cambodia, Lao PDR, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. We are establishing our program in Indonesia and our program in Myanmar is currently on hold.
Program Outcomes
The overarching goal that ASEAN-ACT contributes to is that ASEAN member states have effective justice systems that provide just punishment of traffickers and protect the human rights of victims. Three interrelated end-of-program outcomes (EOPOs) contribute to the achievement of this goal by 2028:
· EOPO1: ASEAN’s planning, monitoring and reporting of ACTIP implementation is increasingly effective and advances the protection of victim rights.
· EOPO2: ASEAN member state justice and related state agencies are increasingly capable of implementing their ACTIP obligations, in particular those that uphold victim rights.
· EOPO3: ASEAN member state justice and related state agencies’ policies and practices are influenced by relevant stakeholders and better aligned with the ACTIP, especially in connection to victim rights obligations.
Overview
The ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) is an ASEAN regional human rights mechanism established in 2010. As an intergovernmental commission, ACWC is mandated to develop policies, programmes and innovative strategies to promote and protect the rights of women and children in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). As a consultative ASEAN body, ACWC reports to and supports the work of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (AMMSWD).
The ACWC developed two sets of guidelines to support ASEAN Sectoral Bodies and ASEAN Member States’ implementation of the ACTIP, namely: the Regional Guidelines and Procedures to Address the Needs of Victims of Trafficking in Persons; and the Gender Sensitive Guideline for Handling Women Victims of Trafficking in Persons. These guidelines (both available online on ASEAN website) provide references and good practices on victim-centred and gender-sensitive approaches to dealing with victims of trafficking in persons. ACWC has conducted capacity building activities for frontline responders, ASEAN bodies and key stakeholders based on these guidelines.
In June 2021, ASEAN-ACT in collaboration with the ACWC developed a multi-year project with a primary objective of contributing to the broader improvement of victim protection and just punishment to their traffickers by applying victim-centred and gender-sensitive approaches in all stages of victim assistance and protection – from victim identification, legal assistance, recovery, return and reintegration to investigation, prosecution and adjudication process. One of the activity under this project is the support to monitoring of victim-centred and gender-sensitive approaches in counter–trafficking in persons (CTIP) responses.
Scope and Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this consultancy is to develop a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system on the adoption and monitoring of the ACWC’s Regional Guidelines and Procedures to Address the Needs of Victims of Trafficking in Persons, the Gender Sensitive Guideline for Handling Women Victims of Trafficking in Persons, and the ASEAN Do No Harm Guide. This activity will contribute to overall goal: to have a common understanding, consistent approach and ensure quality of monitoring and reporting on the adoption and implementation of the Regional Guidelines and Procedures to Address the Needs of Victims of Trafficking in Persons, the Gender Sensitive Guideline for Handling Women Victims of Trafficking in Persons, and the ASEAN Do No Harm Guide.
The following are sub-objectives of this consultancy:
· To develop a M&E system that can be used by ACWC, ASEAN member states and other key CTIP stakeholders, on the adoption and implementation of victim-centred and gender-sensitive approaches in ASEAN Sectoral Bodies and ASEAN Member States, in line with the ACWC M&E framework outlined in its Work Plan 2021–2025.
· To support the consistent collection of data for the purpose of monitoring the adoption and implementation of victim-centred and gender-sensitive approaches in ASEAN Sectoral Bodies and ASEAN Member States.
· To have an approach on how the M&E system can be embedded with or promoted for use by ACWC, ASEAN bodies and relevant AMS agencies, consistent with the ACWC Work Plan 2021–2025.
Key stakeholders
The key stakeholder for this consultancy is the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) and the ASEAN Secretariat.
ASEAN-ACT and the program donor, DFAT, are also important stakeholders.
Areas of responsibility
The consultant will work under the supervision of ASEAN-ACT Inclusion and Victim Rights Director (IVRD) and ASEAN-ACT Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Director and in close coordination with the ASEAN Secretariat with the following key responsibilities:
· Facilitate the development of a M&E system in accordance with the objectives of this consultancy, working closely with the ACWC for guidance and ASEAN-ACT.
· Develop a M&E system consistent with the ACWC M&E framework using a suitable approach to M&E system development, for example adopting a utilisation-focused approach.
· Conduct meetings, interviews and workshops in line with agreed consultancy plan outlined in the inception report.
· Work consultatively and collaboratively with ASEAN-ACT and with the ACWC, in all aspect of the consultancy and in implementing the consultancy plan.
· Manage and implement the agreed consultancy plan.
· Develop and deliver quality deliverables or outputs in a timely manner and in accordance with the consultancy contract and agreed consultancy plan.
· Identify any risk and directly liaise with ASEAN-ACT on how to mitigate identified risk.
· ASEAN-ACT will provide the following assistance to the consultant:
· Provide relevant materials and related documents needed for literature review
· Provide support in arranging meetings, interviews or workshops
· Liaise with ACWC and the ASEAN Secretariat, including the identification of key stakeholders
· Arrange translation services
· Provide logistic and administrative support
Expected outputs of the consultancy
The consultancy is expected to deliver the following outputs within the agreed timeline:
· Inception report outlining the consultancy plan, with approach/methodology and timeframe of the consultancy. The inception report will also include the proposed outline of the M&E system, and outline of the M&E guide – with brief description of contents.
· A draft M&E system on the adoption and implementation of victim-centred and gender-sensitive approaches to CTIP.
· A final M&E system and guide that includes indicators, M&E plan, methodology for data collection, data collection tools and resources needed for M&E.
· A consultancy completion report includes description of the consultancy approach, the development of the guide, consultation process and testing of the toolkit. The completion report will also include a proposed roll-out of the guide and change management approach for ACWC.
Selection criteria
Qualification and experience:
§ Technical:
· Demonstrated understanding and experience (minimum of 7 years) in developing and designing M&E system in a development context.
· Demonstrated strong experience in managing or directing the implementation of an M&E system in a development context. Experience in developing or implementing M&E systems within justice sector in Asia–Pacific region is an advantage.
· Experience in integrating gender equality, disability and social inclusion in developing M&E systems.
· Experience in counter–trafficking in persons sector will be an advantage but not mandatory.
§ Planning and coordination: demonstrated strong planning and coordination skills, demonstrated ability to manage activities, and coordinate or work with diverse group of professionals.
§ Communication and teamwork: good interpersonal skills, with excellent command of English, written and spoken is mandatory.
§ Fluency and demonstrated competency in another ASEAN language will be highly regarded.
§ Demonstrated ability to work effectively with others, including strong experience in cross-cultural and international settings.
§ Qualifications and other experience: postgraduate or advance qualifications in a field relevant to monitoring and evaluation, e.g. social development, information management, research, international studies.
§ Knowledge and experience of Australian Government development programs is desirable.
How to Apply
Send an email to recruitment@aseanact.org with:
(a) A letter of interest, of not more than 5 pages outlining proposed approach to the consultancy and brief response to the selection criteria
(b) curriculum vitae of all proposed research team
(c) The words ‘M&E systems development consultancy’ in the email subject.
ASEAN-ACT is committed to achieving workplace diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individual from minority groups, indigenous groups, People with a disability, women and ASEAN nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.
All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence
Due to the expected volume of applications, only candidates under positive consideration will be notified.
Other Information
Amendments to the position’s Terms of Reference may be made during the period of the engagement as required.